


Who Better Than Her?

by grumpycolbyjack75



Category: None - Fandom, any - Fandom, no - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Asexual Character, Asian-American Character, Bisexual Character, Childhood Friends, Childhood Friends to Lovers, Crushes, Dorks in Love, Drama, F/F, Female Character of Color, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, High School, Homophobia, Idiots in Love, Internalized Acephobia, Internalized Homophobia, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Female Character of Color, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Character of Color, Love Confessions, Misgendering, Mutual Pining, Nonbinary Character, Ongoing story, Original Character(s), Other, Pining, Platonic Relationships, Pre-Relationship, Romantic Fluff, Slow Burn, Teenage Drama, Teenagers, Useless Lesbians, amateur writer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:09:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24708115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grumpycolbyjack75/pseuds/grumpycolbyjack75
Summary: Self-indulgent story about my oc's, Lou, Emily, Claire, and Alisha (and more to come!). An lgbtq+ friendly story about high-school and love and problems that they work through together! it's mostly just me self projecting, but I hope you enjoy :) It's written in third-person limited omniscient, I switch the character whose thoughts you can know every chapter :).
Relationships: Claire x Emily, Female oc x female oc, Lou x Alisha, OCxOC, female oc x nonbinary oc, nonbinary oc x female oc
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	1. Girl Thoughts Head Full

**Author's Note:**

> I know an oc story isn't typical for this site and it most likely won't get much attention since it has no fandom associated,,. but any interaction is much appreciated because these guys are my kiddos!! ❤ Constructive criticism is welcome, i'm always looking to improve, and thanks for stopping by!!

“Claire? CLAIRE!”

Mrs. Miller motioned at Lou to wake her up. Lou looked around tentatively at the other students staring at them with rapt attention. They leaned down and whispered in Clarie’s ear urgently, 

“WAKE UP ASSHAT YOU’RE GOING TO GET US IN T R O U B L E.” 

Claire sat up groggily and looked around. It took her about 10 seconds to process what the hell was happening before she wiped the drool off her textbook and asked Mrs. Miller as politely as she could in her stupified state,

“What page are we on?” 

The teacher looked at her sternly and said with a glare, 

“54, please catch up and see me after class.” 

The class softly ‘ooooh’ed before going back on their phon-   
refocusing on the page.  
Claire rested her head on her hand and glanced over at Lou for reassurance. She was blatantly ignored. * _Sigh_.* 

The end of class rolled around. Lou mumbled something about waiting for her outside before quickly gathering their things and bolting out the door. Claire could feel her palms start to sweat and her heart beating out of her chest. This would be the third time she got chewed out by her teacher for sleeping in class this month!

_Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit._

She walked coolly up to Mrs. Miller and said,   
“Y- * _ahem_ * you wanted to see me?”. 

_Wow, real slick Claire._

Mrs. Miller turned around and sat down at her desk, motioning for her to sit down too. She waited a moment before asking quietly,   
“Is everything alright at home, Claire?”

What? 

“Yeah!” she responded quickly. “I just… haven’t been getting much sleep lately. Stress….. and stuff haHA”

Mrs. Miller looked at her curiously before continuing, 

“I only ask because this is the third time you’ve fallen asleep in class this month. I can understand you’re not getting enough rest at night, but that doesn’t give you an excuse to catch up on sleep while I’m trying to teach. Next time I’ll have to send you to the office.”

Claire nodded solemnly. 

“I understand Mrs. Miller, It won’t happen again.”

The teacher stood up, smoothed out her skirt, and said with a nod, 

“Alright, I think you’d better get going, your friend Louie is waiting for you outside.”

Claire whipped around fast enough to see Lou’s eyes nearly pop out of their skull at being caught eavesdropping and quickly turn around the corner. Claire smiled devilishly and ran after them. 

“I despise Mrs. Miller. It’s official, I’m gonna drop out the next time she deadnames me.”

Lou looked grumpily away, making a show of crossing their arms. 

“I’ve asked her a million times to P L E A S E call me Lou but she just doesn’t listen.”

Claire, however, listened carefully. Being a good listener was one of her many defining qualities, probably. Lou Young. Lou was Claire’s best friend, along with Emily. English with Mrs. Miller was the only class she had with them, which was a miracle honestly, as Lou’s interests were much more tech-oriented. They were your typical “edgy” teen. Sick half-shaved blue hair, chokers, black skinny jeans, and band t-shirts made up their wardrobe. They were 16, like her, with a deep soothing voice that sounded like low tide on smooth rocks.

Claire suddenly heard the pounding of footsteps above the chatter behind her and turned around, only to be met by Emily literally jumping on top of her. 

“Hey, gorgeous!”

She said to Claire jokingly with a smile, hugging her from behind.

“Heard you were talking about that witch Mrs. Miller?”

“Yeah” Lou replied, deadpan,

“Hello to you too Emily.” 

Claire shot Lou a look and they shrugged.

“Mrs. Miller deadnamed them again.”

Emily smiled menacingly and said through clenched teeth in Lou’s direction,

“I’ll bully her for you”. 

Claire pushed Emily playfully away from her and said, 

“That won’t be necessary, I’m already on it.”

Emily grinned wider,

“We can both beat her up! Lets tag-team it sweetheart. We'll win the wrestling belt for sure!”

Lou rolled their eyes and pretended to swoon. “My knights in shining armor! Or rather, my knights in sweater and uniform. Doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as well though.”

Claire blushed lightly at the second pet name Emily had used in their conversation. Lou gave her a knowing smile and chatted with Emily while Claire daydreamed.

_She knows zilch about wrestling and still attempts to make a metaphor with it..._

Emily Garcia. Claire’s best friend since... 3rd grade? It’s been so long she’d forgotten. Emily was probably the most aesthetically pleasing person Claire had ever met. She wore mostly feminine stuff, along with her signature pink hair bow that she’d been sporting in her short curly brown hair for years. Emily was so bright, excitable, and bubbly. She was kind, and beautiful, and funny, and quite possibly Claire’s favorite person in the entire world.

The rest of the school day came and went, and when the last bell rang, Emily and Claire met up so they could walk home together. Winter was coming, and it was chillier outside than usual.

Emily had been, as she claimed, exceptionally smart this morning and bundled up, wearing an oversized brown jacket over her pink sweater. Claire glanced down at her short-sleeved green dress and realized she was not faring well. She walked alongside Emily, shivering, before feeling a warmth enveloping her. She looked down to find Emily’s coat draped onto her shoulders.

She snuck a glance over at Emily to find her staring back. She quickly looked away, but she was sure Emily caught the blush gracing her cheeks. 

“Uh.. thanks”

Claire said shyly, still looking away.

“It’s no problem!”

Emily replied,

“After all, a hoe never gets cold!! uwu.” 

Claire snorted and smiled wide. 

“PFFT, did you just say uwu out loud??” 

Emily blinked twice, registering Claire’s reaction and said,

“Of course?? owo don’t you do the same thing??”

Claire laughed harder,

“Quit it dumbass, people are looking at us." 

Emily smirked and raised an eyebrow. 

“Let ‘em look”

Claire stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and heaved over, giggling. Something about being around her made Claire laugh harder and easier. Emily decided she had probably had enough.

“Okay, I’ll stop, IF you can finally manage to beat me at Mario Kart. It seems as though I’m still the reigning champion.”

Claire stopped dead in her tracks and smirked back. Oh, you’re on. Emily took off in the direction of her house, expecting Claire to follow and giggling while she ran. 

хΧ♡Χх

“One more round!!”

Claire begged. 

She couldn’t afford to lose again, her pride was at stake. Emily smiled sweetly, but her eyes were obviously filled with the power of the damned souls of Mario Kart champions of the past when she agreed.

“Hope you’re ready to get your ass handed to you sweetheart.”  
Claire challenged, while squaring her body in her seat and hunching over, focused. 

She snuck a glance at Emily and noticed her relaxed demeanor. Her eyes traveled up to her face where she found her eyes glinting with amusement back at her. 

“You say that before every round, and yet I’m always disappointed,”

Emily said with a sardonic grin. 

Claire opened her mouth to argue, indignant.

“I’m really going to win this time though!!!”

she replied witheringly, trying her best to convince both Emily and herself. 

She smiled wider. 

“One more round. Loser has to buy winner ice-cream.” 

Claire frowned.

“But I don’t like ice cream...!” 

Emily sat back on the comfortable basement couch and winked at her. 

“Exactly.” 

The two girls realized it was probably time to stop after the 3-hour mark. Emily whipped out her phone’s memo pad to where she had been keeping score and cried joyfully,

“EMILY GARCIA WINS AGAIN!”

Claire moaned and dramatically fell to the ground in defeat. 

“Oh woe is me, will I never win the ultimate prize that is the golden mushroom trophy??”

She wailed playfully.

Emily smiled triumphantly and lay down next to Claire on the soft carpet. 

“Maybe I’ll let you win a round or two next time.”

She said softly,

“Just to be nice.” 

Claire turned onto her side to face the other girl, and Emily did the same. They fell into a comfortable silence until Claire suddenly realized exactly how close they were. She could feel her neck begin to heat up. Her eyes locked with Emily’s for a moment before she nervously looked away. She risked a glance at her again after a few seconds.

Emily was absorbed in her phone, blissfully unaware of the internal crisis Claire was dealing with. 

Emily broke the silence,

“HELLOO, earth to Claire?”

Claire looked up, eyes wide. 

“I’m ordering takeout, what do you want?”

Claire simply stared at her, and Emily patiently stared back. 

“Uhh…”

she started,

“Mei Fun?” 

“Sounds good!”

Emily replied cheerfully.

“I’m getting dumpling soup, NO TOUCHING. They’re delivering, so I’m gonna get a shower."

“Right… shower...”  
Claire trailed off, gathering her thoughts.

Emily rolled her eyes, amused, and left Claire sitting on the floor, dumbstruck. What? The fuck? Was that?? 

The girls ate dinner together and talked for a while until it was time for Claire to go home. Emily offered to give her a ride back, but Claire knew she couldn’t stand another minute around Emily without spontaneously combusting.

She practically ran out of the door and all the way home. Claire did NOT turn back to see Emily’s disappointed silhouette in the doorway, and she DEFINITELY DID NOT think about h*lding her h*nd.

She lay in bed that night and fell asleep wondering if the pounding of her heart was from the physical exertion, or because she was falling so hard she’d be in hell by morning.


	2. I'm Not Edgy, I'm COOL!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We introduce a new friend 😳😳 Lou is both dramatic and awkward as hell. Claire is head over heels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yaaay second chapter yaaaaay woohoo!!!!!! LOU POV THIS TIME WOWIE!!

“Bro, shut up, we're in the library.”

“No, you shut up B R O” 

“Dude actually STFU you’ve gotta know this stuff”

“NO U”

“IT’S QUIET TIME, IDIOT!”

“SHHHHHHHHHHH,”  
said the librarian from across the room. 

“I let you kids stay here ONLY because you told me you were studying… but I don’t hear much studying.”

she waited for a response with a look on her face that somehow only bitter old ladies are capable of making.

“Sorry ma’am, it won’t happen again,”  
replied Lou with a pointed look at Claire. 

“Okay, for real this time Claire, all you have to do is finish labeling this thing and then we’re done for the day.”

“Uggghhhhh. I’m trying, seriously, but I just don’t understand,”  
she replied.

“Try your best and then I’ll help you fix it if it's wrong, okay?”  
smiled Lou patiently. 

Claire seemed thankful Lou was taking the time out of their day to work on this with her.

S _he better be._  
Thought Lou.

She took her pencil out from behind her ear and started labeling again. 

“Okay, so basically, I don’t know the difference between cilia and flagella.” 

“That’s alright!,”  
Lou began,

“Look, the cilia are really short, and there's a bunch of them all over the cell.”

“Oh! And flagella are long and there's only a few?”  
Claire finished.

“YEAH!”  
Lou held up their hand for a high-five

“ALRIGHT!”  
Claire fist-bumped it, as was customary.

“SHHHHHH”  
said the librarian. 

The friends laughed quietly and packed up their stuff, making their way to their next classes, home ec., and robotics, respectively. 

“Soooo,”  
Lou brought up, not-so-subtly.

“You and Emily, huh?” 

“wHat?”  
Claire yelped as her ears reddened.

“M- *AHEM* me and Emily??”

“Dude…,, don’t play dumb. You guys have known each other for what, 8 years? And now suddenly you can’t keep a straight face if I mention you two in the same sentence?” they smiled knowingly.

“I have no idea what you’re talking abou-” Claire interrupted her own thought to say,

“wait, did you just make a pun?”

“Yeah yeah, don’t change the subject, lover girl.”

Claire walked faster. Lou kept up the pace.

“Dude, it’s okay if you like Emily you know? You’re not the only uhh,”  
Lou made an odd motion with their hands and torso. Dancing? Maybe?

“Epicsauce lgbt,, you dig?”

“Okay, one, I do NOT like Emily, we are just close friends and I think she’s pretty and wonderful and I daydream about her and that’s IT! Two, do you even know how to speak properly? I thought you were like, an honors student.”  
Claire laughed teasingly. 

Lou frowned.

“Yeah sure, but all my smart juice goes towards my academics, so when I’m left to my own devices, or talking to my oblivious best friend,”  
Lou nudged her and grinned,

“I’ve gotta be stupid to balance it out. In other news, what was all that stuff you said about Emily just now?”

“WALKING AWAY!”  
shouted Claire, pointedly ignoring the stares of the other students in the not-so-empty hallway, and staring down at her boots.

Lou only laughed and slowed down, coming up on their turn to get to robotics with Mr. Tillet. They watched and waited until Claire disappeared behind the sea of people to start walking down the tech ed hallway. 

Hiking their bag up higher on their back, Lou straightened their Panic! tee-shirt and put in one earbud. Humming softly, they opened the door and sat down at the back of the room, close to the robots the class built and would be test running in mere minutes.

The most recent project was to partner up with another person in the class and build the robot together, supposedly for “team-building”, but Lou was in serious doubt. Nonono, It couldn’t have ANYTHING to do with the fact that tech ed had little to no funding, and as a result, limited materials that must be shared between classmates.

Of course not.

The bell rang, and Lou sighed and leaned back further in their chair as their insufferable - teacher issued - partner strutted into the room, late. Really, not walked, because who WALKS LIKE A NORMAL PERSON these days, but strutted, into the goddamn robotics room. 

“Alisha Hummel, you’re late.”  
Said Mr. Tillet, eying her from above his small wire glasses and holding a clipboard in his lap.

Alisha gave him a misleadingly sweet smile and said,  
“Oh my gosh, I am SO sorry Mr. Tillet. My friend was having a bit of a wardrobe malfunction so I just HAD to help him!”

If Lou rolled their eyes any further into the back of their head they’d be stuck there. There’s no way Mr. Tillet would let her slide with THAT excuse. 

“May I just add, Mr. T., that you have like, the best fashion sense out of all the teachers in this school! That blue flannel shirt with those nice beige khakis, wow! Best of the best as always. If only my friend could be as aesthetically aware as you are!”  
Alisha smiled a blindingly white smile and blinked her eyelashes a few times, just for good measure. 

Lou bet she used 10 teeth whitening strips a day. Gross. 

Mr. Tillet chuckled and folded his hands on his desk.  
“A little flattery isn’t going to save you, Miss Alisha. Go sit down, and see me after class for a tardy slip. Maybe show a bit more respect for our fine learning establishment’s rules, hmm?”

“UGH!”  
Alisha pointedly looked around the room, demanding with her expression that everyone look away from her failed charming-the-teacher escapade.

She stalked back to her assigned seat next to Lou and huffed. 

Sweet justice, thought Lou, and they smiled.

“What are you smiling about, edgy?”  
Alisha glared at Lou.

“Edgy?"  
Lou gasped dramatically,

“I’m not edgy, I’m COOL!”

Claire would get a kick out of this when they told her later. Popular kids who think they own the world get their rights revoked in Lou’s book.

“You wish you looked this good.”

“Ugh, as if. I have a bit more expanse to my wardrobe than custom yellow band shirts, weird goth kid.”  
Alisha shot back. 

“Sure, sure, believe whatever you like, miss purple sweater dress.”  
Lou made a rude gesture and went to lean back in their chair again before realization hit them. 

“Wait a minute, how’d you know my shirts were custom?” 

Alisha got very red in the face very quickly.  
“Well- I mean- you’re not the uh, the only dumb.. emo.. guy in school. It’s not like nobody, um, notices that all the band shirts you wear are yellow. It’s too much of a coincidence that they’re all like that, uhh, automatically.”  
she stumbled through the sentence. 

Lou looked back at her with surprise, before quickly masking it with ostentatiousness.

“Oooh, THE Alisha Hummel pays attention to how I dress and my interests. Sounds like we were a match made in hell huh?”  
Lou leaned in uncomfortably close and fluttered their eyelashes, mocking her. 

Alisha pushed them away, slouched in her chair and blew a strand of hair out of her face.

“As if, I’m too good for you. And I’m not a satanist, like YOU. I’m a good Christian.”

Lou gasped once again and placed a hand over their chest.

“Alisha! I’m hurt! You wound me!”  
Sarcasm flowed off them like a waterfall.

“Whatever will I do, I don’t think I can go on knowing princess Hummel doesn’t return my love!!”  
Lou pretended to faint, and threw an arm over their head, almost laying down parallel to the floor in their seat.

They sat up just slightly and opened one eye to peek at Alisha and see what she would do. 

“Don’t call me princess, clown,”  
she said.

“No no, Alisha, you have to immerse yourself in the story. Look, If you’re the princess, then I’m not the clown, I’m the jester!”  
Lou smiled and bowed grandly.

It was a wonder Mr. Tillet hadn’t called them out on their antics, but it was very likely that he simply didn’t care. Lou didn't mind much. As annoying as Alisha was, at least it was entertaining to see her reaction to their dramatics.

“Fine,”  
Alisha smirked and turned towards Lou.

“If I’m the princess, then you’re the grossest, ugliest, muddiest pig in the stables that nobody wants to touch, and we only keep you around so we can eat you for dinner.” 

Lou laughed uproariously, much to the displeasure of their seatmate. 

“What kind of insult was that?? You seriously couldn’t think of anything better? A muddy pig, are you kidding me?”  
They wiped away a tear.

“I’m crying, you made me laugh so hard I cried. Whew. you are a real piece of work.” 

Alisha decided the best course of action then was to turn away and grump in another direction. Any other direction. As long as Lou wasn’t in her field of vision. Luckily, one of Lou’s many talents was taking a hint - perhaps after a little prodding - and they left her alone as much as possible. At least, as much as they could, despite being partners for the machine test runs. 

**xX♡** **Xx**

It was the end of robotics, and Lou had made it out, barely scathed! They made to put an earbud in so they could walk peacefully to their next class, but they saw a pink bow from the doorway, with an animated voice attached to it. Lou smiled and shook their head gently, placing the earbud back in their book bag pocket.

Somehow Emily still managed to get lost halfway through the school year. Lou decided - gallantly, they might add - to aid Emily in finding her next course. Lou stepped out of the classroom to find, _gasp_ , Alisha, and Emily laughing together like old friends. The best course of action, obviously, was to run away, because Alisha and Lou don’t like each other, obviously, and because Emily was too busy committing the upmost betrayal to chat, obviously. 

Just as Lou had almost managed to snake their earbud back into their ear and sneak inconspicuously away, Emily turned her head and spotted them.

“Oh HEY LOU!!!!”  
Dammit. 

Emily was jumping up and down and waving both of her hands above her head frantically to catch Lou’s attention, and in turn, everyone in the hallway’s attention. 

Lou had no choice. Oh god. Here goes.

“Heyyyyyyyyyyyy Emily. Alisha.”   
Jesus their smile was so awkward, they could feel it.

Why couldn’t Emily be telepathic and save them all from a horribly cumbersome conversation? 

“Heyyyyyyy Lou. Lou.”   
Emily put her hands on her hips and made her voice ridiculously deep in a teasing way.

Then she looked excitedly back and forth between Alisha and Lou. 

“SO! Do you guys know each other?”

“We’re partners in robotics. Mr. Tillet thinks it's good for building ‘social skills’ for our future or whatever. I bet you a million bucks it’s just because the school’s poor.”  
commented Alisha exasperatedly.

Lou held back surprise. Alisha had the same theory as them? 

Emily squealed.   
“I’M SO HAPPY MY FRIENDS ARE FRIENDS!!!”

Lou and Alisha both harbored the same look of disbelief on their faces. 

“Friends?”  
They said in unison.

“Yeah!! I mean, Lou, obviously you and Claire are already friends, but you two being friends too really just takes the cake!” She smiled so brightly. Dear god. 

Neither Alisha nor Lou harbored any will to break that sunshines heart. They looked at each other. Once again, Lou wished for telepathy, but it didn’t come. Alisha spoke first.

“Yeah… we’re… friends.”  
She said, over-exaggerating forcing the words out of her mouth.

Lou discreetly nudged her in the side. 

“Of course we’re friends, Emily, what kind of lab partners wouldn’t be besties?”  
Lou laughed nervously. 

It was Alisha’s turn to nudge Lou. 

“Dude.”  
She hissed.

“We’re besties now??”

“I PANICKED OKAY”  
Lou whisper-yelled. 

“What are you silly geese whispering about?”  
Emily butted in.

“Lou was just saying how he had to leave now. Say buh bye Lou.”  
And just like that, Lou was shoved into the writhing mass of people in the hallway. 

They thought they heard Emily’s goodbye over the chatter, but it was a bit late to turn back. Lou would be tardy for their next class if they lollygagged any longer. 

_Lollygagged? Where is my brain today?_

Lou whipped out their phone and rapidly began texting Claire.

 **BooHoo Lou** _sent 11:43am_ : DUDE

Emily was the fastest at texting back out of the three friends, Claire was the slowest. Lou typically didn’t expect a message back immediately unless Claire was already on her phone, whereas Emily kept her ringer on even in the ungodly hours of the night.  
* _bing_ *

 **O’hare Air** _sent 11:44am_ : What is it, bro?

Ah. There she is. Home ec. must be slow today. 

**BooHoo Lou** _sent 11:44am_ : did you have any idea Alisha and Emily were friends?? why did I never know this before??? 

**O’hare Air** _sent 11:45am_ : What?  
 **O’hare Air** _sent 11:45am_ : No? I also don’t keep tabs on everyone she’s friends with broski, I am super chill in that way. 😌

Lou rolled their eyes at Claire’s perfect grammar, capitalization, and punctuation, as well as her use of emoji’s. Barf. Lou faintly heard a bell ring. 

**BooHoo Lou** _sent 11:46am_ : aw. isn’t that puke. you ARE so chill in that way.   
**BooHoo Lou** _sent 11:46am_ : can you hear it?  
 **BooHoo Lou** _sent 11:46am_ : can you hear those words in my voice just dripping with sarcasm?  
 **BooHoo Lou** _sent 11:47am_ : claireeeeeeeee  
 **BooHoo Lou** _sent 11:47am_ : oh wait shit i think that was my bell. gotta blast 

Lou looked up from their phone to find that the hallway was nearly cleared out, the exception being a few stragglers. They sprinted the rest of the way down the hallway and made a quick turn at the corner, snatching their earbuds out of the air as they tried to escape the edgy teen music prison in which Lou held them captive.


	3. Pining Fools

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the reason i decided to add the angst tag. there are tears.. and confrontation.

“So anyway, that’s when I told him he was an ass and so WHAT if I was a minute or so late?? But since he’s all crotchety he had to hold one of those sound amplifier things up to his ear. He was all like ‘huuaaah?’ and I was like ‘NEVER MIND YOU DUMB OLD MAN.”

Emily smiled and nodded along. Alisha liked to… embellish her stories occasionally. 

“How old do you think Mr. Tillet is?” Emily said, raising her eyebrows and pressing her lips together to hold in a smile. 

“What? Like a hundred. Probably. Why else would he be so decrepit?” Alisha rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. 

Emily hummed thoughtfully, prompting Alisha to finish her story. She was eager to hear how she would exaggerate the parts with Lou. 

But she didn’t continue. Emily frowned. It wasn’t like Alisha to stop a story short. 

“Soooo…” she prodded. “Then what happened?”

“Oh. Nothing much I guess, same as every other class with that emo dumbass. He had a shit-eating grin on his face the whole time and was super lame and annoying. Kind of a shame.” she said while grabbing her phone out of her bookbag. 

_ Wow.  _ Emily had quite a bit to unpack from those few sentences. She noticed the misgendering first but debated whether or not to correct her. If Lou hadn’t already come out to her, should she say something? Or maybe they had, and Alisha just didn’t care? Maybe Lou didn’t even want her to know (yet)?  _ Aw dammit.  _ She thought. _ I’ll just leave it for now and fix it if she does it again.  _

“I thought you two were _ besties _ ?” said Emily, grinning wickedly. She hadn’t really believed that for a second, but it made her happy to indulge her friends. It was also funny to watch them squirm sometimes, but she wouldn’t  _ say  _ either of those things.

Alisha scrambled to cover her tracks.

“What? OH. yeah, umm we are! Besties, I mean. We’re besties. Best buds… us two. Just. Bonding all the time over being hot assholes.,. and robotics.” 

She blushed and her eyes got huge as Emily’s grin grew wider and she realized exactly what she had said. 

“HOT?? ASSHOLES?” Emily bounced all around her. “YOu tHINK LOU'S HOT???”

She gasped. “IS THAT WHY YOU SAID IT WAS A  _ SHAME  _ THEY WERE  _ ‘Lame and annoying’ _ ???”

Emily giggled wildly and put the pieces together in her mind, as Alisha quickly turned into the girls bathroom so people would stop looking at her. Emily skipped into the bathroom after her.

Alisha whirled around and stared Emily dead in the eye.

“I didn’t mean that, okay? Don’t let anyone know you heard me say that.”

Emily’s grin fell. “Why not?” she asked. “It’s okay if you have a crus-”

“I DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH.” Alisha snapped, quickly slapping her hand over Emily’s mouth. Emily just stared back at her in surprise. 

Alisha lowered her hand. “Woah, I’m sorry. That was out of line. I shouldn’t have done that.” 

An image of Claire quickly flitted across Emily’s mind. Their level of friendship and familiarity far surpassed her relationship with anyone else. Emily thought of her often, like she did now. She wouldn’t have minded if Claire had done that, playfully of course, but Emily just wasn’t on that level with Alisha. 

_ No reason not to accept her apology though. She seems genuinely sorry.  _ Thought Emily.

“It’s okay!” She laughed it off, figuring humor was the way out of an awkward situation like this. 

It was not. Alisha seemed even more ill at ease. She fidgeted and avoided Emily’s eyes. 

She took a deep breath and said, “Listen, I do think Lou is attractive. But I can’t do anything about it because my friends wouldn’t approve. I worked hard to get this far and build the relationships I’ve got. I get that he’s your friend and all, but he isn’t… cool. I have to fit in Emily, you don’t understand. Defecting now in my junior year is the death of my social life for the rest of my high school career.”

Emily opened, then closed her mouth.  _ Better to let Alisha finish her speech and see if she redeems herself than bitching now.  _ She thought. 

Alisha seemed extremely torn and frustrated with herself. “GOD that sounds so superficial. And It is. We live in a superficial world. Ugh no that sounds so lame, I’m not trying to make excuses for myself.” She paced back and forth. 

“I WOULD like to get to know him but I CAN’T. Okay? Let's leave it at that.”

Emily stayed straight faced. No redeeming remarks, so she was all done standing there. 

“Lou is nonbinary. They use they/them pronouns. Please do not misgender them again. Bye Alisha.” Emily didn’t really feel like being understanding. She had seriously shown her true colors. Emily decided that if Lou wasn’t cool in Alisha’s eyes, then she wasn’t either. She strode out of the room and left Alisha standing there with her mouth hanging open like a trout.

_ Was I too harsh?  _ Wondered Emily as she strode away, quick paced. 

_ Whatever. No room in my life for jerks.  _

She pulled up her sweater sleeve to check her watch.  _ Damn. This period’s already 15 minutes in… At least it’s only a study hall.  _ She remembered that Claire had lunch at this time and decided to pay her a visit, rather than explain to the hall monitor or her study hall teacher why she was wandering. 

It wasn’t hard to spot Claire in the lunch-line. She was one of the few people who still followed the schools long crumbled uniform guidelines. Lou and Emily loved to tease her for being such a stick-in-the-mud, but hey, the girl had her principles, which Emily respected. Plus, Claire looked really nice in that green dress, so Emily wasn’t complaining. Emily moseyed up to Claire in the line, with a few bitter looks from the people behind her waiting, but what did she care? The look on Claire’s face when she surprised her with a hug was well worth it.

“So,” Emily began, “what have you decided on? Styrofoam pizza or… cardboard cheeseburger?”

“Em!” Claire exclaimed, “What are you doing here?”

The way her face lit up sometimes made Emily’s heart flutter in her chest. She tended to not give her sexuality much thought, but Claire’s dimples when she smiled that brilliant smile… 

_ I mean, what girl wouldn’t question a little when they saw that smile?  _ Thought Emily. 

She vowed when they were younger to always try her best to bring out Claire’s rare genuine smiles. She’d kept to that promise all these years, and continued to jump at the chance to hear her melodic giggle over and over again. 

“Aw, aren’t you just bursting with excitement to see me?” Emily frowned jokingly. 

She had expected a laugh, maybe a playful shove, but instead the tips of Claire’s ears turned red.  _ Not the reaction I was going for, but just as cute…  _ she thought. 

Claire had apparently opted to ignore it. “Well yeah, duh, but don’t you have class this period?” She countered.

Emily just shrugged and said, “Yeah, just study hall though. They won’t miss me.”

Then she had an idea.  _ Oh, This is sure to get a rise out of Claire.  _

It wasn’t HER fault she was born as a shameless flirt. Emily grinned and snaked an arm around Claire’s shoulder as they moved up in the line. She ducked her head down next to Claire’s ear and whispered, “Plus, I had to come claim my prize.”

Needless to say, Claire’s face turned cherry red. Emily stifled a laugh at her reaction as Claire stared at her, slack-jawed. 

“What’s the matter Claire-Bear?” She said, feigning innocence. “You owe me an ice cream for being the best at Mario Kart.” 

Claire deflated like a balloon, minus the squeaking noise. Emily let her giggles escape her mouth. 

She raised an eyebrow and said, “You look so disappointed, don’t tell me you thought I’d forget about it!” 

“Of course I didn’t forget.” Claire began, “I just thought we’d go to an actual ice cream place, not pretend to enjoy the school’s shitty excuse for an ice cream sandwich.”

Emily wiped away a faux tear and gently placed both of her hands over Claire’s shoulders, turning the shorter girl’s body towards her own.

“Eclair, babe, I forgive you for saying that because you’re my best friend, but don’t ever diss the majesty that is this sacred building’s mint ice cream sandwich again.”

Claire did giggle that time.  _ Score,  _ thought Emily. 

“And ohoho, what was that about taking me to a real ice cream place? Don’t tell me I won mario kart AND a date?’ Emily winked, just for good measure.

Claire kept the flare-up under control that time. She almost seemed… upset? Claire picked up her tray and strode over to her lunch table. Emily sat down next to her and tried to amend the situation. 

“Are you mad at me dove? What did I say?” she began. 

“I’m not your dove. Or your sweetheart. Or any of that.” She said angrily, staring straight ahead at nothing. 

_ Okay, apparently charm was not the way to go. _ Emily adjusted her demeanor accordingly. 

“Wait, I’m sorry dude. I didn’t know that stuff made you uncomfortable? You never said anything before, I thought we were just messing around…” She prompted Claire to say something, anything, so she could quickly remedy the problem and everything would be cool again. 

“YOU were just messing around. Because it’s just a game right?? To see how much of a rise you can get out of me? Fuck you.” She yelled, making a few heads turn. 

“Okay, you’re a little out of line there…” said Emily, embarrassed. What Claire was saying was kind of true, she was messing with her feelings a little, but she thought that was just what they did. That was their dynamic. Emily didn’t know how to act around Claire anymore as they got older. This was just the routine they had fallen into. It had seemed that Claire had snapped first.

“People are looking at us.” Emily commented nervously, seeing a few more staring in their direction. 

Claire laughed viciously, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. “‘Let ‘em look.’ Isn’t that what you said? Isn’t that what you said yesterday Emily? But only if they’re looking at me, right? It’s all fun and games until they see you too, AND YOU CAN'T CHANGE PERSONALITIES FAST ENOUGH TO THROW THEM OFF YOUR TRAIL." 

Claire clapped her hands over her mouth as a tear fell, and then another. she had ended up yelling and the whole cafeteria was looking at them. Emily stood up quickly. 

"I- I have to go." she said quietly, and ran off. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY FOR THE CLIFFHANGER. (no i'm not). but more will come soon! i'm debating whether to write the next chapter from Claire or Alisha’s perspective.. alisha wasn't originally meant to be a big character, but she's turned into one of my favorites and i have big plans for her. thank you for reading!


	4. Cool Kid Kool-Aid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FOUR new characters??? Jeepers. The kool-aid is........... don't tell anyone................ its alchobol....... 😳. On a serious note, this chapter contains brief mentions of underage drinking and vomit (for anyone with Emetophobia), and a slightly less brief mention of body image/issues. Watch out for those if you're sensitive to those topics, and enjoy!

Alisha was well suited enough to keeping up appearances with her friends that it felt like second nature, but the back of her mind raced. Her and Emily’s conversation replayed over and over again in her head like a broken film reel. Certain fragments stuck with her the most,

  


“I get that he’s your friend and all, but he isn’t… cool.”

  


“...death of my social life…”

  


“...I CAN’T. Okay?”

  


And most of all, Emily’s face when she strode away,

  


“Lou is nonbinary. They use they/them pronouns. Please do not misgender them again. Bye Alisha.”

  


_Bye, Alisha. Bye, Alisha. Bye, Alisha._

  


Was that a final goodbye? She had seemed so self-assured. She was one of the only people Alisha had been on her way to genuinely making friends with.

  


_Well, I do have friends_. She thought, subtlety looking around and tuning back into the conversation. 

  


“Ahah Geoffry, dude, I only had to stay in custody for like, an hour. My dad bailed me right away. He was all like ‘Son, don’t drink ever again. It’s bad for your health and safety.’ and I was all like ‘okay sure, whatever dad.’ and then he said he’d take me out of school for the next three days for a big fishing trip.” laughed Kyle.

  


“HAHA damn, Kyle, dude, that’s crazy. You actually gonna go?” Geoffry asked.

  


“As if I had a choice man. My dad’s a BEAST. Plus he just got me out of police custody lmaoo. I could try to get out of it…” he replied

  


“YEAH BRO DO IT! I’m gonna throw a real rager after school tomorrow, and I’ve gotta have my homie there to be my wingman!! Plus my older sister is gonna smuggle us some beers.” Geoffry sang. 

  


Kyle and Geoffry punched each other affectionately. Across the table, Olivia held up a forkful of salad, smiled her winning smile, and snapped a picture. She then put the fork down without eating it and typed furiously on her phone. 

  


“Aren’t you going to eat, Olivia?” asked Alisha gently. 

  


“What?” Replied Olivia, barely looking up. “Oh, yeah, maybe later. I’m on, like, a health kick right now because my parents are making me diet with them.”

  


“Oh, are they okay?” Alisha asked worriedly.

  


“Uh huuuh.” Olivia said, not listening in the slightest. 

  


Alisha sighed and started eating again, smiling and being agreeable when needed. These interactions were normal, and although Alisha didn’t really care for them, associating herself with these people made her _somebody_. 

  


She wanted to cry. She didn’t. Even if these idiots did catch on, they would ignore her or assume it was about a boy or something superficial. 

  


“Alisha, babe, you’ll come to my party, right?” Geoffry’s intruding voice startled her. 

  


She cringed inwardly at the name, but exclaimed “DUH!” outwardly instead, plastering on a grin. 

  


“HAHA, told you she’d say yes!!” Geoffry drawled and rolled his eyes over to stare at Kyle. 

  


Alisha actually didn't know if she could come. She probably would be tasked with watching her little toddler brother, since her two older brothers were at college and her parents were constantly busy or burnt out. _It's better to say yes and cancel later to keep an air of mystery though, right?_ This was Alisha's life. Careful deliberation over everything she said and did, whether surrounded by people or only in the company of herself. 

  


It was easier to hide than be real and be denied. 

  


The end of the day came quicker than Alisha would have preferred. The twin boys sitting on the bus seat beside her wouldn’t shut up, and she had forgotten her headphones at home. 

  


_Please please please please please god don’t let Anthony have found them._ Her one solace in music, destroyed? The situation was only a possibility, but she stewed in resentment the rest of the way home anyway. 

  


Alisha opened her front door and threw her book bag aside, reaching to pull down her sweater dress. Her cat, Muffin, brrted loudly and brushed up against her legs. She was looking forward to curling up with him after she put her little brother, Anthony, to bed. 

  


“I’M BACK HOME FROM SCHOOL.” She yelled into the abyss, not expecting it to answer back. 

  


“Welcome back, Mija!” 

  


Alisha’s stout and homely father came striding into the living room and embraced her. His combover tickled her nose. She concealed her surprise and quickly wrapped her arms around her father’s shoulders. 

  


“Papá, ¿qué eres haciendo aquí?” she asked, trying not to sound too urgent. 

  


He was supposed to be at work. If he wasn’t at work, then she wouldn’t have to watch her little brother, and she wouldn’t have any excuse not to show up to Geoffry’s party.

  


“We’ll talk about it a little later, mi corazón, for now, come sit!” He walked over to the couch and gestured for her to follow suit. He wiggled his eyebrows and waved his phone around. “Sooo, my darling daughter. When were you going to tell me your little friend was hosting a party tonight?” 

  


Alisha’s expression remained unchanged, but there were red alerts going off in her brain. “What party?” she asked, coolly. 

  


“ _¡Vengaaa!_ Geoffry called me to let me know about the party you silly girl. He’s a good boy. He told me he asked you to come! Don’t tell me you’re losing your memory.” He looked at her in a quizzical way, though it was abundantly clear he was being sarcastic. “Remember Geoffry? Big nose, long brown hair, handsome face? Mamá and I have been trying to set you two up since you were bebés.” He got a wistful look on his face. Alisha grimaced. 

  


“I know who Geoffry is papá. I saw him earlier today at lunch.” She deadpanned.

  


Alisha’s dad grinned. “Perfect!” he exclaimed, handing his phone to her. “You may use this to call him back, querida. RSVP! Let him know you’re coming and then go get ready!”

  


“I have my own phone!” She sighed. “And people don’t typically RSVP to these types of parties. You just show up if you can. Plus it isn’t for another few hours.”

  


“A FEW HOURS!” He jumped out of his seat. “YOU NEED TO HURRY MIJA!” Suddenly Alisha was being pushed up the stairs to the second floor of her home and into her room. Her father began flying around the bedroom, picking out different combinations of clothes, jewelry, and accessories. He was grinning from ear to ear, laying out outfits on various surfaces. Alisha crossed the floor to her bed and flopped down on it. 

  


“Papá, I’ve got it. I can pick out my own outfit.” she said, exasperated. 

  


“Nonsense dear, you’re going to be the belle of the ball.” He reached into the far back of the closet and pulled out a long, golden, sparkly dress. “Why don’t you ever wear this cariña, it’s beautiful!” He quickly draped it over his arm and added it to the growing collection of clothes piled around her room. 

  


_Time to pull out the “dad”_ Alisha decided.

  


“DAAAAD” she whined. “That dress was for the 8th grade winter formal. Name one other place I could wear that.”

  


“Your uncle’s funeral.” he said airily. 

  


“PAPÁ”

  


“Whaaaat?” he replied “You would have been beautiful, really brightened up everyone’s day. So stuffy with all the black and the crying.” he muttered.

  


“That isn’t funny.” Alisha deadpanned, easily holding in a snort. 

  


“Of course it’s funny!” he said, “Your uncle was a horrible racist fool. Everyone would rather look at you than his ugly mug, ángel.”

  


“Okay, okay. I’ll keep that in mind for next time.” She rolled her eyes fondly. Slowly but surely, she had managed to herd her father back towards the door leading out of her room. “Now shoo, let me get dressed.”

  


хΧ♡Χх

  


Alisha stared. Her reflection stared back. When she turned to look at herself from the side, her reflection did too, with harshly furrowed eyebrows and judgemental eyes. A hand on her stomach, and a hand on her back, pushing together, like opposite magnetic poles. 

  


_Is this too grunge? I don't want to look like i'm being a tryhard. Deep breath Alisha, suck it up. You love parties. Your friends love them, so you love them. It's bonding. It's nice._

  


She took off her black overalls and put on a purple graphic tee-dress instead. Her dad knocked at the door, gently. 

  


"Just a second!" she called, rifling through her top dresser drawer. Alisha pulled on black knee high socks and threw on a pair of black and white lace-up sneakers. Her cross necklace jangled against the purse she chose. It went better with the overalls. 

  


Her father was waiting at the front door. She looked past him and saw the car parked in front with the lights on and the windows fogged. It was warm in the car, but she shivered anyway.

  


Alisha's dad tried to make small talk. "Are you excited my dear?", "What are the plans for the party?", and the like, but she gave one word answers, or whatever was appropriate. As they pulled up to the house, Alisha saw bright lights and shadows of people swaying inside through the windows. 

  


"Gracias papá." she said, not uncoldly. She had already closed the door before she heard his response. She briskly walked up to the porch and wondered if she should knock or just go in. The decision was never made, as a girl she had never seen before ran out into the lawn and barfed. Alisha looked back to where her father had been moments before, wide eyed, but he had already driven away. Edging closer towards the door, she slipped inside. 

  


_Deep breath Alisha._

  


She spotted Geoffry in the far edge of the room, but he seemed to be… occupied. Kyle was talking to a pretty senior she faintly recognized, and Geoffry was staring in their direction. 

  


_Noted._ She thought. Any gossip would be a good talking point to be bookmarked for later. She didn't consider herself nosy, persay, moreso interested in keeping herself relevant. Olivia was nowhere to be found. Neither was Emily, she noticed sadly. Someone brushed by her and she realized she should get out of the doorway. 

  


_Just smile and make smalltalk._ That was the plan. But she noticed out of the corner of her eye someone was waving her over to the couch. Alisha squinted. "Claire?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alisha pov!! THIS CHAPTER TOOK FOREVER TO GET OUT. i had zero inspiration to finish this for the longest time, but it's finally here! Gonna loop right back to claire next :o). I made some tweaks to earlier chapters, nothing groundbreaking, just conversations flowing smoother and i made the decision to make lou amab! thank you so much for reading, and stay tuned ;o).


End file.
